Council overturns itself, Pop Warner league to get prime time practice field

The Boca Raton City Council chambers were packed Tuesday night as the council…

September 18, 2013|By Anne Geggis, Sun Sentinel

BOCA RATON — — This was one football showdown, the mayor warned Tuesday, where no cheering would be allowed.

The council chambers were packed for the rematch, pitting Boca's longtime football league, the Jets, against the upstart two-year-old Pop Warner league. At stake was the prime-time practice field at Patch Reef Park. In the role of officials sat members of the City Council.

Last week, council members decided the Jets should get the better field. But Tuesday, upon further review, possession of the field was turned over to the Pop Warner teams.

The deciding factor, according to city rules, was how many Boca residents play in each league — the league with more gets the better field, while the team with fewer residents is assigned to University Woodlands Park.

But fluctuating rosters have confused who's entitled to what.

In the initial roster count, the Jets had 36 residents. The Pop Warner league had 101.

In the final count, though, Pop Warner had 71 residents, while the Boca Jets now list 119 residents among their players. After hearing the final roster numbers last week — and a plea from Boca Jets President Tolliver Miller — the City Council ordered the two leagues to switch practice fields.

But Mayor Susan Whelchel said Tuesday that she didn't realize final counts have never been used to determine practice field assignments. It's always done based on the initial counts.

So, Tuesday's discussion focused on how those initial counts, submitted to the city June 21, were made.

"The initial roster is meant to be dynamic, it's not meant to be static," said Michael Schmidt, a member of the Pop Warner league's board. He said that some of the names were based on last year's roster and children who said they were going to play. "We can't expect the initial roster to be the final roster."

But Miller, from the Boca Jets, said his league submitted only the names of those who had formally registered to play this year for that initial count made to the city.

"We did exactly what the city asked us," he said. "And last week, the mayor and the City Council rewarded us for doing the right thing."

Tuesday, he said if he had counted the names according to last year's roster, as Pop Warner officials did, he would have submitted more than 200 names for the initial count.

Players and parents of the Pop Warner league went away happy Tuesday.

Patch Reef Park, said Brandon Batista, 14, of Delray Beach, "is much bigger, there's much more room to practice and more wide open spaces."

But some of the Boca Jets were irate.

Predner Elmon, 14, who is in his fifth year playing for the Jets, said the council's call was unfair.

"We've been here longer than anyone else," he said.

Robert Cochran, 11, another Jets player, said he was disappointed.

"Patch Reef is a good field," he said. "The field we have is flooded a lot."

The experience led the City Council to discuss reviewing how the city determines who plays on what field.

"It (the rule) was not to create a competition," City Council member Anthony Majhess said. "We need to step back and look at what we're teaching our kids."